Judges 1

1Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

2And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

3And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.

4And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

5And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

6But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

7And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.footnote afootnote b

8Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

9And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.footnote c

10And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

11And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher:

12And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

13And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

14And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?

15And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

16And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

17And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

18Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.

19And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.footnote d

20And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.

21And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

22And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el: and the LORD was with them.

23And the house of Joseph sent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)

24And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.

25And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.

26And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.

27Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

28And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.

29Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

30Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

31Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:

32But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.

33Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them.

34And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:

35But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.footnote e

36And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.footnote f

The Conquest of Canaan Proceeds

1After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?”

2“Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.”

3Then the men of Judah said to their brothers the Simeonites, “Come up with us to our allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. And we likewise will go with you to your territory.” So the Simeonites went with them.

4When Judah attacked, the LORD delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites.

6As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

The Capture of Jerusalem and Hebron

8Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire. 9Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills.footnote a

10Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher). 12And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.” 13So Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz captured the city, and Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

14One day Acsah came to Othniel and urged himfootnote b to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you desire?”

15“Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.”
So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

16Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palmsfootnote c to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.

17Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction.footnote d So it was called Hormah.footnote e 18And Judah also capturedfootnote f Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each with its territory. 19The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron.

20Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.

21The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites.

22The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 23They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz), 24and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”

25So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that man and all his family. 26And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

The Failure to Complete the Conquest

27At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 28When Israel became stronger, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but they never drove them out completely.

29Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.

30Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers.

31Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob. 32So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.

33Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers.

34The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain. 35And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor. 36And the border of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbimfootnote g to Sela and beyond.